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Dallas Jockey - Does 4 GMAT attempts hurt me? Basically it doesn't. I have done a lot of research and there are a number of reasons/details/etc why its ok for me given the policies of the schools I am considering, my profile, GMAT history, etc. (bottom line its better to have a high score of 740 in 4 attempts than a high of 650 in 3 attempts, plus 740 is my most recent score)

In your case I think re-taking a 700 would look bad as it shows a lack of proper prioritizing. A 700 will make you competitive anywere so I would focus on your essays. If I had scored a 700 at any point on my first 3 attempts I would have stopped. It just so happened that when I finally broke through the 700 barrier it was to hit 740. Honestly I don't believe there is a substantial difference between a 700 and a 740 (unless you didn't get the 80/80 split)

Last edited by IHateTheGMAT on 24 Jul 2006, 12:54, edited 1 time in total.

I did do a lot of full tests but I pretty much only did those on the weekends. During the week I primarily did practice problems and error log (keep in mind I had already learned/reviewed concepts long ago). As far as timing goes you pretty much need to time groups of questions for RC because its the only way that makes sense. I used to time how long it took me to answer the first 4 questions on the passage (in OG) because you typically will only see 3-4 Q's per passage on the real test. Your timing on a 6-8 Q passage (which OG has alot of) is unrealistic because you get to amortize your time spent on the passage over a greater number of questions. For all other Q types I timed individual problems using a cheap stop watch that I bought at radioshack.

I applied your strategy and seems to be working fine. But one major problem is inference questions. 40-50% of the questions I get wrong are inference questions (i.e in second paragraph passage suggests which of teh following about X)? What do you recommend?

BTW, I improved a lot in timing. I did two sets of 40 questions and in each finished 3 minutes early. I never finished early, even on time, in RCs. Thanks buddy. _________________

First of all thats great that you've seen improvement in RC! I'm glad my stuff helped. As far as inference questions the main idea is to basically pick the answer that is the most directly supported by the the passage (do not infer anything!). If you need to create a story for the answer to be correct, then its wrong. Also, I think they usually put some pretty sneaky traps on these types of questions so you need to be careful. Often they will have a statement that sounds like its supported by the passage but if you read it carefully you will find that its not. Carefully using POE will often help a lot with these questions. If you'd like you can post links to a couple RC inference Q's from GMATClub (or post a passage, reference OG11, etc) and I can work through a couple examples for you (pick science RC if you must but i'd prefer that you didn't - I hate those!)

I like your strategies. They seem less stringent and more practical. I did have one question. Regarding your statement about the last reading comprehension being important. Is it your theory that the last RC passage is the most important or that the last one is certainly not the experimental passage?

I hate the GMAT too!! But you kicked some serious... Congratulations.
I did very poorly on my first attempt ( Aug, 06), 575, AWA ( 5.5). I took the Kaplan course and could do most of the math and verbal questions. Got 720 on the ultimate practice test but could not pace myself on the real thing. I took almost 20 min on the first 5 questions, and then got frazzled and guessed most of the rest.
This website has been a source of tremendous inspiration and information.
Second attempt ( Dec, 06)
So far:
Finished all problems in Nova
Most of OG 10th edition.
Planning to buy tests from MGMAT, GMATClub.
Can you please recommend any other source for purchasing tests? Or names of any other books I should go through?
Really looking forward to your advice.

IHateGmat :
First of All .. and i am sure you already hv gotten lot of these Congratulations Dude !! u Da Man .

I read thru ur entire thread and quite frankly its full of some amazing information about accuracy and pacing strategies . I must say ,i am glad to find this thread .
Thanks for sharing ur perspective and following up on so many other things asked subsequently .
I must also thanks to other ppl who hv contributed to this thread . i can totally correlate to things asked by my fellow Gmatters.

I have been working on my GMAT from last few weeks. I so want to nail it that i quit my job ,just to make sure i get this rite(hopefully i will)need to get started with admission process along with my new job search .

i have been tryin to pace myself on verbalr
SC - 1.5min
CR - 2min
RC - now this has been a tough nut so far ..sometimes i just take forever (Category 2 i suppose ,need to put ur suggestions) and inference Q's kill me sometime .

On Quant -
PS
I have been trying pace my self but somehow(as u mentioned earlier) ,i just cant figure how to put Words in equations on some of the questions .. Any suggestions for that ?? its takes 4 mins to fix one question sometimes

DS
Its been OK so far in DS . -Need to pace it better - Currently 2.5 min /avg
Word of Caution for All : Be wary of those ans choices which have SquareRoot n Abosolute Value for X ..very tricky

I am planning to take by OCT first week .

Test Taken

GMAT PowerPsrep Test1 (i know ..i just downloaded the Official GMATPrep)
First Time - 540
Second time - 660(ofcourse some repeats) So not sure if it was the right indicator for pacing.

QQ on this one , the GMATPrep downloaded from some forum ,it only has 2 Tests , Do i have the correct version or there are only 2 Tests on it ??

Kaplan - Test 1 - Pretty Bad and demoralizing - got 520
i thought Verbal as well as Quat were hard on this one

Given that i only have 2 weeks left before i take test , any suggestion on what strategy i should go with to get most out of in terms of pacing and getting most practice ??

pS:
I keep reading that you should time GMATPrep tests as last ones (contrary to what u suggested ,ie to take as many times ) ,which i think makes more sense .. any suggestions there ?

How was the real exam in comparision to gmatprep and og questions(some of the questions in og are bruttal)

I would say that GMATprep is exactly like the real thing, but many people have reported that quantitative questions on the real thing are tougher than those in GMATprep (I'm one of those people). I believe that the OG is very representative of the types of questions you will find in the real exam, but I believe that the quantitative questions also do not reach the level of the tougest questions on the real exam. Of course, since it is a CAT, each person's experience will vary.

medchemist - Make sure you take the GMATPrep tests. There are only 2 but you can re-take them. They are exactly like the real thing. Also, I'm not sure how much overlap there is between OG11 and OG10 but that might be a good source for some additional practice problems (dont get the supplements though because they come entirely from OG10)

GmatInstinct - I would say you def need to practice the cat 2 strategy and I also think that you should expect to have at lease one passage where your going to need to go straight to the questions (cat 3). I do think GMATPrep should be the last test you take but I also think it should be taken a few times earlier on in your prep

The posts are not only very inspiring but are important in their detail as well.
Many congratulations for the great score and
words can not describe your determination. Really inspiring us to persevere and not let it go.